This 1964 Ford Falcon Futura hardtop is one of those cars that just keeps getting better the more you look at it. I will admit that Pro-Street is not my thing, but the build quality of the car will win over anybody. Add in a potent 351 cubic inch small block, a 5-speed, and 4-wheel disc brakes, and you quickly realize that it has the right equipment to be equally at home on the street or the track, and it’s a serious threat in both locations. It was built by a body shop owner, and he built it for himself, so you know the quality is there—one glance down the flanks will convince you that he knew what he was doing. It’s hardcore, no doubt about that, but if you’ve got the stones, this car will never disappoint.

The aforementioned body shop owner painted all his cars black and obviously understood what black paint demands of the sheetmetal underneath. This sucker is laser straight! Even without the full pro-street treatment, very few Falcons get this kind of bodywork and it’s pretty impressive. Panel fit is excellent, with the creases running down the sides lining up properly from fender to door to quarter panel and the door gaps are even all around. The paint appears to be two-stage urethane and has a fantastic shine that’s deep and distortion-free, and while the car has been driven a bit, there aren’t many signs of it. The only outward modification is that teardrop hood that looks very much like one from a Thunderbolt, and a lot of folks seem to mistake this Falcon for a Thunderbolt. It’s fiberglass, so it’s lightweight, and there are hood pins keeping it in place and a prop rod underneath to hold it up. All the chrome and stainless trim was restored, replaced, or polished up, with correct Futura emblems installed as needed. In back, there’s a small emergency shut-off switch by the passenger-side taillight, but even the exhaust was tucked up underneath so it’s not in-your-face aggressive (although it’s hard to hide those giant tires and the wicked exhaust note). It’s subtle, but this ain’t no sleeper.

Open the doors and climb in and you may not notice the drastic modifications—well, at least from the front seat. The rear seat is obviously gone, replaced by wheel tubs and custom sheetmetal work to handle the rear suspension, but it’s expertly done by professionals who do this for a living. Up front you get stock Falcon bucket seats wrapped in reproduction seat covers that look quite fresh, as well as correct door panels with a matching pleated theme. Correct handles, a Futura badge below the vent windows, and even correct Ford door sills are all still in place. There’s a custom steering column with a 4-spoke wheel wrapped in leather, and a full set of carpets help control noise and heat, although this car definitely barks and cackles. There’s a custom gauge panel in the original instruments’ place, and it includes all the engine’s vitals, plus a clock, which is a thoughtful touch. There’s a monster Auto Meter tach and shift light up on top of the dash, but as a semi-racecar, there is no speedometer so we don’t know how many miles it has (does it even matter?). The shifter is a beautifully crafted billet piece with a Hurst cue ball knob, and the mechanism snaps through the gears of the Tremec 5-speed manual gearbox with a sweet mechanical precision. No radio and the heater’s gone too (racecar, remember?), but you don’t need or want either one. You may note that the rear quarter windows don’t go down, which is due to the giant wheel tubs underneath, but the hardware is all there and they do work if you want to give it a try. The trunk is very nicely finished as well, offering a stainless battery box, custom fuel cell under the floor, and access to the fuel pump and sending unit through a cool hatch in the bottom. Like I said, the workmanship gets better and better the more you look.

The engine is a built Windsor 351 cubic inch V8, and it’s plenty potent for this lightweight Falcon. There’s a giant Demon carburetor up top, an Edelbrock hi-rise intake, and a set of aluminum heads to help build power. MSD supplied the ignition system and there’s definitely a big, gnarly cam inside the block. However, it’s set up to run on pump gas, it starts quickly and easily, and actually does idle well, even when it’s cold. As I said, the fellow who built it wanted his stuff right and this was his favorite car to drive. Up front there’s an electric water pump that seems to have no problems keeping up, as well as a giant BeCool aluminum radiator with a big pusher fan on the front and we’ve had this car idling in the parking lot for 30 minutes without it getting fussy. Note the clean sheetmetal work on the inner fenders (the original shock towers are gone) and the smoothed firewall that really makes the engine shine.

The chassis is not just some cut-and-paste job, either. Up front, there’s a custom cross member with tubular A-arms and coil-over shocks, plus a rack-and-pinion steering system. In back, a fabricated subframe carries a 4-link setup with a reinforced and narrowed Ford 9-inch rear with 4.11 gears inside, so the sucker certainly needs those big meats. With the 5-speed manual transmission’s overdrive gear, however, it’s pretty calm on the highway and this is one pro-street car that doesn’t mind making the long hauls. The body tub has been reinforced with subframe connectors and it’s quite tidy underneath with no evidence that this was ever a rusty car. Long-tube headers dump into a minimalist exhaust system with glasspack-style mufflers and cool side-exit tips that dump just ahead of the rear wheels. There’s also a disc brake at all four corners and a custom fuel cell hanging out back, all plumbed with stainless lines. Weld Pro-Star wheels sparkle against the black paint and carry 165R15 front and 31x18.50-15 rear Mickey Thompson rubber.

We know this isn’t a car for everybody. But you pro-street guys know how crude most of those cars are and how difficult it is to bridge street-friendly with hardcore performance. This Falcon absolutely nails it in every way. The look is right, the work is beautifully done, the engine is bulletproof reliable but plenty potent, and it’s a blast to drive. Best of all, it probably cost twice as much as the asking price to build, making this Falcon an incredible performance bargain. Call today!